Osamu Dazai

"Dazai's brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras." —Andrew Martin, The New York Times"… translator O'Brien excels, his unembellished use of language allowing the comically dry but fraught moments of Dazai's prose to flourish." —Asian Review of BooksBest-known for his novels No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, Dazai was also an acclaimed writer of short stories, experimenting with a wide variety of styles and bringing to each work a sophisticated sense of humor, a broad empathy for the human condition and a tremendous literary talent. The twenty stories in this collection include:Memories — An autobiographical tale in which Dazai relates episodes from his own childhood and adolescence, showing his relationship with his family and his tendency towards introspection and self-dramatizationOn the Question of Apparel — A comic tour-de-force in which Dazai examines the hold that fashion has over him and how it relates to his own pathetic self-imageA Poor Man's Got His Pride — A retelling of a story by 18th-century master of burlesque fiction Ihara Saikaku, about a fallen samurai who lives in povertyThe Sound of Hammering — A love story set against the backdrop of the rebuilding of Tokyo after the city was totally destroyed during World War TwoAnd sixteen other stories! By turns hilarious, ironic, introspective, mystical and sarcastic, these stories present a fully rounded portrait of a talented writer who tried several times to take his own life and ultimately succeeded. An introduction by translator James O'Brien gives the background to Dazai's life and shows how the stories in this book, whether autobiographical or fictional, contribute to an understanding of one of Japan's greatest writers.**Recommended for readers 16 years & up. Not intended for high school classroom use due to adult content.**

Osamu Dadzaj (1909-1948) - odna iz samykh tragicheskikh i vmeste s tem znachimykh figur japonskoj literatury. Povest "Ispoved "nepolnotsennogo" cheloveka" - samoe izvestnoe ego proizvedenie, schitajuscheesja shedevrom ne tolko japonskoj, no i mirovoj literatury. Povest napisana v zhanre "vatakusi-sjosetsu" ("roman o sebe") i rasskazyvaet istoriju junoshi po imeni Jodzo, kotoryj chuvstvuet sebja otchuzhdjonnym ot okruzhajuschego mira i boretsja s vnutrennimi demonami. Pronikaja v samye tjomnye ugolki chelovecheskoj dushi, Dadzaj issleduet temy odinochestva, strakha i poiska smysla v poslevoennoj Japonii. Povest byla ekranizirovana pod odnoimennym nazvaniem, a takzhe poluchila adaptatsiju v vide anime-antologii "Klassicheskie istorii" i polnometrazhnogo animatsionnogo filma "HUMAN LOST. Ispoved nepolnotsennogo cheloveka". Tekst proizvedenija adaptirovan dlja nachalnogo urovnja vladenija japonskim jazykom; v kontse knigi vy najdete uprazhnenija i slovar. Kniga budet polezna vsem, kto izuchaet japonskij jazyk.

A classic of Japanese literature, brought to life in English & manga for the first time! This is the first manga edition in English of The Setting Sun, Osamu Dazai's classic novel, often considered his masterpiece. Set in the aftermath of World War II, this is the story of Kazuko, a strong-willed young woman from an aristocratic family that has fallen into poverty since the war. The book follows Kazuko's journey as she and her family struggle to survive and adapt to the harsh new conditions. In addition to having to move from Tokyo to the countryside, where she is forced to work in the fields to support the family, she has to deal with a difficult divorce, the birth of a stillborn child, and the return of her drug-addicted brother from the war. This gripping and inspiring portrait of one woman's determination to survive in a society that is in the grip of a social and moral crisis tells one story in a fast-changing world, with universal themes that resonates with readers today. After Soseki Natsume, Osamu Dazai is Japan's most popular writer. Dazai is enjoying a surge in interest among young people today thanks to the success of the manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs, whose protagonist, a detective named Osamu Dazai, is based on the real-life author.**Recommended for readers ages 16+ due to mature themes and graphic content**

A completely new translation of Osamu Dazai's great masterpiece by award-winning translator Juliet Winters Carpenter." A journey to hell with Osamu Dazai, Japan's ultimate bad boy novelist" —Damian Flanagan, The Japan TimesNo Longer Human is the story of Yozo Oba, who, from early childhood, finds it impossible to form meaningful relationships with family or friends. As a child he copes by acting the fool—mocking himself while entertaining others. As an adult he turns to alcohol, sex and drugs, which lead to his eventual self-destruction. Originally written in 1948 and based closely on Dazai's own life, the timeless and universal themes of social alienation, failure and one man's inner torture at his inability to feel like a normal human still resonate with young people everywhere, making this an enduring international classic. This contemporary translation will be welcomed by all fans of modern Japanese literature as well as by readers familiar with Osamu Dazai. After Soseki Natsume, Osamu Dazai is Japan's most popular writer. Dazai is enjoying a surge in interest among young people today thanks to the success of the manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs, whose protagonist, a detective named Osamu Dazai, is based on the real-life author." Dazai's brand of egoistic pessimism dovetails organically with the emo chic of this cultural moment and with the inner lives of teenagers of all eras." —Andrew Martin, The New York Times

"Art dies the moment it acquires authority." So said Japan's quintessential rebel writer Osamu Dazai, who, disgusted with the hypocrisy of every kind of establishment, from the nation's obsolete aristocracy to its posturing, warmongering generals, went his own way, even when that meant his death—and the death of others. Faced with pressure to conform, he declared his individuality to the world—in all its self-involved, self-conscious and self-hating glory. "Art", he wrote, "is 'I'." In these short stories, collected and translated by Ralph McCarthy, we can see just how closely Dazai's life mirrored his art and vice versa, as the writer/narrator falls from grace, rises to fame and falls again. Addiction, debt, shame and despair dogged Dazai until his self-inflicted death and yet despite all the lies and deception he resorted to in life, there is an almost fanatical honesty to his writing. And that has made him a hero to generations of readers who see laid bare, in his works, the painful, impossible contradictions inherent in the universal commandment of social life—fit in and do as you are told—as well as the possibility, however desperate, of defiance. Long out of print, these stories will be a revelation to the legions of new fans of No Longer Human, The Setting Sun and The Flowers of Buffoonery.

"I've led a life full of shame. Human beings are a complete mystery to me." This manga version of novelist Osamu Dazai's masterpiece NO LONGER HUMAN—the #2 bestselling novel of all time in Japan—tells the story of Yozo Oba, a young man growing up in Japan in the immediate aftermath of World War II, who finds himself caught between the disintegration of the traditions of his aristocratic provincial family and the impact of the new postwar world. Oba is tormented by a failure to find any value in himself or in human relationships, despite being surrounded by women who love him. He creates the persona of a buffoon who mocks himself while entertaining others. But inside he is tortured, and as he moves from childhood to adulthood he becomes addicted to sex and alcohol. Largely autobiographical, No Longer Human explores Dazai's own sense of failure and alienation which drove him to self-destruct with alcohol and numerous suicide attempts. Osamu Dazai (1909—1948) is Japan's second most popular novelist (after Soseki), and his works are seeing a huge surge in popularity among young people worldwide thanks to the success of the recent manga, anime and film series Bungo Stray Dogs, whose protagonist, a detective called Osamu Dazai, has similar character traits to Yozo Oba. Fans of manga and anime are turning to the original No Longer Human novel, whose themes of alienation from society and an inability to reconcile social appearances with inner self—told with great wit, irony and pathos—strike a deep chord among readers today.**Recommended for readers ages 16+ due to mature themes and graphic content**

Another spectacular collaboration from the Maiden's Bookshelf series, this dark and intense fable by the great giant of postward literature is brought to vivid life by contemporary master Nekosuke. Suwa, a charcoal burner's daughter, lives together with her father in a small village at a foot of a mountain so remote it doesn't even appear on maps. Slowly she comes to realize the dark futility of her life, leading to a strange and elliptical transformation... Dazai depicts the adolescent awakening to death and the desire to escape through this quiet and ominous tale.

The Flowers of Buffoonery opens in a seaside sanatorium where Yozo Oba—the narrator of No Longer Human at a younger age—is being kept after a failed suicide attempt. While he is convalescing, his friends and family visit him, and other patients and nurses drift in and out of his room. Against this dispiriting backdrop, everyone tries to maintain a light-hearted, even clownish atmosphere: playing cards, smoking cigarettes, vying for attention, cracking jokes and trying to make each other laugh. While No Longer Human delves into the darkest corners of human consciousness, The Flowers of Buffoonery pokes fun at these same emotions: the follies and hardships of youth, of love and of self-hatred and depression. A glimpse into the lives of a group of outsiders in pre-war Japan, The Flowers of Buffoonery is a darkly humorous and fresh addition to Osamu Dazai’s masterful and intoxicating oeuvre.

The story of Pandoras Box is derived from Greek mythology, which explores the conflict between despair and hope, pessimism and optimism, and misery and happiness. Legend says that this box was always meant to remain closed; but everything changed once it was finally opened. All the evils of pain, sorrow, jealousy, greed, cunning, and malice were unleashed like insects, covering the sky. Inside the box remained a small, shining stone, upon which were engraved the letters of one word: Hope. Should a person ever find themselves overcome by misery, let this myth be a lesson in seeking the silver lining and finding hope.

Mine has been a life of much shame. I can’t even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being. Portraying himself as a failure, the protagonist of Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human narrates a seemingly normal life even while he feels himself incapable of understanding human beings. His attempts to reconcile himself to the world around him begin in early childhood, continue through high school, where he becomes a “clown” to mask his alienation, and eventually lead to a failed suicide attempt as an adult. Without sentimentality, he records the casual cruelties of life and its fleeting moments of human connection and tenderness. Still one of the ten bestselling books in Japan, No Longer Human is an important and unforgettable modern classic: “The struggle of the individual to fit into a normalizing society remains just as relevant today as it was at the time of writing.” (The Japan Times)

This powerful novel of a nation in social and moral crisis was first published by New Directions in 1956. Set in the early postwar years, The Setting Sun probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. The influence of Osamu Dazai’s novel has made “people of the setting sun” a permanent part of the Japanese language, and his heroine, Kazuko, a young aristocrat who deliberately abandons her class, a symbol of the anomie which pervades so much of the modern world.

Osamu Dazai's classic tale retold by Usamaru Furuya is now in a complete omnibus edition Set in modern-day Tokyo, Dazai's tale details the life of a young man originally from a well-off family from Japan's far north. Yozo Oba is a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others. A weak constitution and the lingering trauma from some abuse administered by a relative forces him to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity since high school. The series is composed of three parts, referred to in the novel as memorandums, which chronicle the life of Oba from his teens to late twenties. The comic is narrated by the artist, Furuya himself, making appearances at the start of each volume.

The war is over. Japan is defeated. As his country rebuilds, a young man must fight disease and rebuild his life. He will start at a peculiar sanatorium, where everyone gets a nickname, and where he is surrounded by an odd assortment of patients and caregivers. Osamu Dazai was a leading Japanese modern fiction writer who wrote in the genre of the "I" novel. His work reflected his troubled life, but Pandora's Box is one of his optimistic novels.

The Japanese edition of Run, Melos! a book of short stories written by Osamu Dazai, including the story of the title of the book, which is considered one of the best works of this author.

Il sole si spegne la storia di una famiglia nobile, caduta in disgrazia dopo la seconda guerra mondiale. In un crescendo drammatico, la giovane Kazuko racconta, attraverso la tragica epopea della propria famiglia, la graduale scomparsa dei valori tradizionali in una societ che pi non riesce a riconoscersi nel passaggio alla modernit e nei cambiamenti postbellici. La madre, una donna dolce e affettuosa, a seguito della morte del marito costretta a vendere la propria casa e a trasferirsi in provincia, dove la vita meno cara; Kazuko, consumata dall'affetto per i suoi cari e disperatamente bisognosa di amore, crede di trovarlo tra le braccia di un vecchio scrittore depravato. Il fratello Naoji, sopravvissuto alla guerra e incapace di identificarsi sia con il ceto aristocratico di appartenenza, sia con la classe del popolo, cerca l'oblio nell'alcol e nelle droghe. Un libro in cui si riconosciuta l'intera generazione sorta tra le rovine del dopoguerra.

Osamu Dazai is one of the most famous--and infamous--writers of 20th-century Japan. A Shameful Life (Ningen shikkaku) is his final published work and has become a bestselling classic for its depiction of the tortured struggle of a young man to survive in a world that he cannot comprehend. Paralleling the life and death of Dazai himself, the delicate weaving of fact and fiction remorselessly documents via journals the life of Yozo, a university student who spends his time in increasing isolation and debauchery. His doomed love affairs, suicide attempts, and constant fear of revealing his true self haunt the pages of the book and reveal a slow descent into madness. This dark tale nevertheless conveys something authentic about the human heart and its inability to find its true bearing.

I efterkrigstidens Japan följer *The Setting Sun* den unga kvinnan Kazuko, som kämpar för att bygga upp sitt liv medan hennes en gång aristokratiska familj går mot sin undergång. I denna gripande roman skildrar Osamu Dazai samhällsförändring, förlust och sökandet efter mening i en värld som förändrats av kriget.